Broken Paradise
by Nightmare Hurricane
Summary: In a forest broken by war, all hope is lost...that is, until a kit in born into the forest. Can the small kit save the forest by creating a clan when the whole forest appears to be fighting against her?


A large forest, no where near any twoleg places. Untouched by them. Full of prey if you know where to look. You would think it was a paradise. It once was. It was once home to twin clans AirClan and RockClan. The two clans were peaceful together in their forest...until their limits were tested. A halfclan cat became leader of AirClan. His brother that had joined the other clan soon took over RockClan not too soon after his brother became leader. For a moon nothing happened, and both clans were fine...

But the two leaders finally showed their true faces a moon from when the second brother became leader. They ordered the clans to do things that they normally went against. Many other evil cats revealed themselves during their rein. The brothers soon joined the clans into one.

The AirClan brother's son started a resistance, and the joined clans started to hope again.

The day of the finale battle came quicker then the resistance would have liked. The battle was bloody and long. You would think that the resistance won, wouldn't you? They lost. However the two brothers and many other cats had been killed in the battle. The cats who survived decided that they would live alone.

So now, many years from then, the clans still aren't clans. There are the descendants of the original cats living in the forest, but in small groups of family. They still are given clan names and all that. But the paradise is broken. Many family groups trade with other family groups, stuff like prey of maybe even a kit. Others kick their kits out after they have received their full name. There are also many cats who live alone. Without a family or anyone else to live with. Or there are the rare groups of friends.

Prey is little in the time of coldleaf. Some cats who are starving sometimes prey...on other cats. These cats are mostly the ones who live alone, or possibly in a big group. The forest that was once a paradise was now darkened by blood and terror.

Hope barely exists. Many have lost hope. But some haven't. Very few still have hope, many more don't. A kit, born into a hopeless family, may chance all all of this.

* * *

A flame colored tom watched as two toms fought each other. One was a dark flame color, and the other a dark gray. A pale silver she-cat with a lighter belly and small black spots covering her body watched them with large bright green eyes.

"Emberkit, go easy on Ashkit." said the flame colored tom. The two stopped fighting for a moment.

"But uncle Sunstorm, he deserves it!" cried out Emberkit, the dark flame colored tom.

"Yeah! I mean...he shouldn't go easy on me!" complained Ashkit, the dark gray tom.

"Sorry kits, but I promised your parents that you would be alive when they came back." said Sunstorm.

"..." The small she-cat in the back of the den was unamused by the toms in the den.

"But we may need these skills later on!" complained Emberkit.

"Yeah! Mom and dad and you are always talking about how dangerous the outside world is!" said Ashkit.

"It isn't too dangerous for us. We can feed ourselves in coldleaf and our den is hidden well. We also trade with some of the other families around us. As long as you stay then we're safe." said Sunstorm.

"...but what about the others?" The small she-cat in the corner said in a quiet voice, almost too quiet for the toms to hear.

"What about them Palekit?" asked Sunstorm.

"They're suffering out there. It's not right." said Palekit.

Sunstorm rolled his eyes while Emberkit and Ashkit snorted.

"Why do you care about them? Our own safety is more important then theirs, that's why we're fighting." said Emberkit.

"Yeah! What he said!" said Ashkit.

"Palekit, your brothers are right. Our safety should mean more then outside cat's safety." said Sunstorm.

Palekit flattened her ears and looked sadly at her paws. "..."

Silence filled the den until it was broken by the arrival of two cats. One a pale ginger colored she-car with a few darker spots on her pelt. The other was a large black tom with a scar over his left eye.

"We're home!" The she-cat said happily.

"Mom! Dad!" the two young toms cried out and ran up to their parents.

"Hello Gingerbird and Shadowblood." said Sunstorm.

Gingerbird smiled in response while Shadowblood only nodded.

"Did you bring any food?" asked Emberkit.

"Yeah, I want food!" said Ashkit.

Gingerbird happily dragged a dead rabbit into the den.

Shadowblood stood next to Sunstorm. "Do you think it's enough?" asked Sunstorm. The larger tom only shook his head.

The two brothers began to eat the rabbit. "Leave some for us!" said Gingerbird. The two began to eat slower. The older she-cat then walked over to her mate and brother.

Palekit slowly walked up to the rabbit and sat next to it. Then, she began to talk so quietly no one could hear her. "Liontooth, god of hunting, I thank you for allowing my parents to capture this rabbit. Thank you for sacrificing its life to help us." Then the small she-cat began to eat with her brothers. Their parents began to eat alongside them.

When the rabbit was finished Gingerbird had something to say. "My kits, you're six moons old! You are now given your second name and you shall be taught to hunt and fight!" Gingerbird said cheerfully.

"You are now Emberpaw, Ashpaw, and Palepaw." said Shadowblood.

While Emberpaw and Ashpaw talked excitedly about their training Palepaw spoke once more in a voice too quiet for anyone to notice. "Thank you Pounceheart, goddess of rankings, for allowing me to jump up one rank."

Palepaw then looked to the mouth of the den. Then the she-cat looked over to her family members. Her two loud brothers, her silent father, her nice and happy mother, and her selfish uncle. None of them were paying attention to her. Placing one paw after the other, Palepaw made her way into the outside night. She breathed in the clear air and closed her eyes. It was so nice out here. Palepaw opened her eyes only to see a pair of golden amber eyes looking at her, the eyes were the only thing visible as it was hiding in the plants not too far from the den. Palepaw held her breath as a dark brown paw stepped out of the shadows...


End file.
